Tax Reform essays

Tax Reform essays When the American people think of taxes, the acronym that immediately comes to mind is IRS. Associated with these three letters are the audits and spools of red tape that Americans travel through each year to earn a temporary hiatus from government intervention into their lives. The permanent escape from this burden of record keeping and paper pushing is just one of the benefits reaped by replacing the current federal income tax system with a national sales tax. Simplification of the federal bureaucracy through a national sales tax would eliminate the need to even have an agency such as the Internal Revenue Service. The burden of individuals being forced to keep financial records for seven years and the nightmare of filing annual tax returns under a complicated system of rules few can decipher would no longer exist. In order for our country to institute a just and ethical means of taxation, establish a secure method for appropriating government funds, and to honestly save the taxpayer money; the United States should initiate tax reform by eliminating federal income tax and create an across the board federal sales tax. The government's reliance on the current income tax system creates a great emphasis on the appropriation of tax revenue. This collection mentality encourages taxpayers who are in high tax rate brackets to pursue avenues of tax avoidance by finding loopholes in the ever increasingly complex tax code. Extremely difficult for the everyday American to understand, the federal tax code can encourage tax evasion and avoidance by taxpayers of all rate income levels because nearly everyone attempts to "outsmart the system". This situation causes an economic loss by creating extra work for the government and lost tax revenue. With the cost of investigation and the cost of collecting money owed the federal government rising, the amount of capital needed from taxpayers to pay for th...

Definitions and Discussions of Medieval Rhetoric

Definitions and Discussions of Medieval Rhetoric The expression medieval rhetoric refers to the  study and practice of rhetoric from approximately A.D. 400 (with the publication of St. Augustines On Christian Doctrine) to 1400. During the Middle Ages, two of the most influential works from the classical period were Ciceros De Inventione (On Invention) and the anonymous Rhetorica ad Herennium (the oldest complete Latin textbook on rhetoric). Aristotles Rhetoric and Ciceros De Oratore werent rediscovered by scholars until late in the medieval period. Nonetheless, says Thomas Conley, medieval rhetoric was  far more than a mere transmission of mummified traditions that were poorly understood by those who transmitted them. The Middle Ages are often represented as stagnant and backward . . ., [but] such a representation fails dismally to do justice to the intellectual complexity and sophistication of medieval rhetorics (Rhetoric in the European Tradition, 1990). Periods of Western Rhetoric Classical RhetoricMedieval RhetoricRenaissance RhetoricEnlightenment RhetoricNineteenth-Century RhetoricNew Rhetoric(s) Examples and Observations It was Ciceros youthful, schematic (and incomplete) treatise De inventione, and not any one of his mature and synthetic theoretical works (or the even fuller account in Quintilians Institutio oratoria) that became the shaping influence on so much medieval rhetorical teaching. . . . Both the De inventione and the Ad Herennium proved to be excellent, coherent teaching texts. Between them they conveyed complete and concise information about the parts of rhetoric, topical invention, status theory (the issues upon which the case rests), attributes of the person and the act, the parts of a speech, the genres of rhetoric, and stylistic ornamentation. . . . Oratory, as Cicero had known and defined it, had declined steadily during the years of the [Roman] empire under political conditions that did not encourage the forensic and judicial oratory of earlier periods. But rhetorical teaching survived through late antiquity and into the Middle Ages because of its intellectual and cultural prestige , and in the course of its survival it took on other forms and found many other purposes.(Rita Copeland, Medieval Rhetoric. Encyclopedia of Rhetoric, ed. by Thomas O. Sloane. Oxford University Press, 2001) Applications of Rhetoric in the Middle Ages In application, the art of rhetoric contributed during the period from the fourth to the fourteenth century not only to the methods of speaking and writing well, of composing letters and petitions, sermons and prayers, legal documents and briefs, poetry and prose, but to the canons of interpreting laws and scripture, to the dialectical devices of discovery and proof, to the establishment of the scholastic method which was to come into universal use in philosophy and theology, and finally to the formulation of scientific inquiry which was to separate philosophy from theology.(Richard McKeon, Rhetoric in the Middle Ages. Speculum, January 1942) The Decline of Classical Rhetoric and the Emergence of Medieval Rhetoric There is no single point when classical civilization ends and the Middle Ages begins, nor when the history of classical rhetoric ends. Beginning in the fifth century after Christ in the West and in the sixth century in the East, there was a deterioration of the conditions of civic life that had created and sustained the study and uses of rhetoric throughout antiquity in courts of law and deliberative assemblies. Schools of rhetoric continued to exist, more in the East than in the West, but they were fewer and were only partially replaced by study of rhetoric in some monasteries. The acceptance of classical rhetoric by such influential Christians as Gregory of Nazianzus and Augustine in the fourth century significantly contributed to continuation of the tradition, though the functions of the study of rhetoric in the Church were transferred from preparation for public address in law courts and assemblies to knowledge useful in interpreting the Bible, in preaching, and in ecclesiastical disputation. (George A. Kennedy, A New History of Classical Rhetoric. Princeton University Press, 1994) A Diverse History [A]s the history of medieval rhetoric and grammar reveal with special clarity, all the significant original works on discourse which appear in Europe after Rabanus Maurus [c. 780-856] are merely highly selective adaptations of the old bodies of doctrine. The classical texts continue to be copied, but new treatises tend to appropriate for their purposes only those parts of the old lore which are of use to the one art. Thus it is that the medieval arts of discourse have a diverse rather than a unified history. The writers of letters select certain rhetorical doctrines, the preachers of sermons still others . . .. As one modern scholar [Richard McKeon] has said in relation to rhetoric, in terms of a single subject mattersuch as style, literature, discourseit has no history during the middle ages. (James J. Murphy, Rhetoric in the Middle Ages: A History of Rhetorical Theory from St. Augustine to the Renaissance. University of California Press, 1974) Three Rhetorical Genres [James J.] Murphy [see above] outlined the development of three unique rhetorical genres: ars praedicandi, ars dictaminis, and ars poetriae. Each addressed a specific concern of the era; each applied rhetorical precepts to a situational need. Ars praedicandi provided a method for developing sermons. Ars dictaminis developed precepts for letter writing. Ars poetriae suggested guidelines for composing prose and poetry. Murphys important work provided the context for smaller, more focused studies of medieval rhetoric.(William M. Purcell, Ars Poetriae: Rhetorical and Grammatical Invention at the Margin of Literacy. University of South Carolina Press, 1996) The Ciceronian Tradition Conventional medieval rhetoric promotes highly formalized, formulaic, and ceremoniously institutionalized forms of discourse. The major source of this static richness is Cicero, the magister eloquentiae, known primarily through the many translations of De inventione. Because medieval rhetoric is so extensively committed to Ciceronian patterns of amplification (dilatio) through the flowers, or colores, of figured speaking that decorate (ornare) the composition, it often appears to be a ponderous extension of the sophistic tradition in a moralistic framework. (Peter Auski, Christian Plain Style: The Evolution of a Spiritual Ideal. McGill-Queens Press, 1995) A Rhetoric of Forms and Formats Medieval rhetoric . . . became, in at least some of its manifestations, a rhetoric of forms and formats. . . . Medieval rhetoric added to ancient systems its own generic rules, which were necessary because documents themselves had come to stand in for the people as well as for the Word that they meant to convey. By following articulated patterns for greeting, informing, and taking leave of the now-distant and temporarily removed audience, the letter, sermon, or saints life acquired typical (typological) forms.(Susan Miller, Rescuing the Subject: A Critical Introduction to Rhetoric and the Writer. Southern Illinois University Press, 1989) Christian Adaptations of Roman Rhetoric Rhetorical studies traveled with the Romans, but educational practices were not enough to keep rhetoric flourishing. Christianity served to validate and invigorate pagan rhetoric by adapting it to religious ends. Around AD 400, St. Augustine of Hippo wrote De doctrina Christiana (On Christian Doctrine), perhaps the most influential book of its time, for he demonstrated how to take the gold out of Egypt to fortify what would become the Christian rhetorical practices of teaching, preaching, and moving (2.40.60). The medieval rhetorical tradition, then, evolved within the dual influences of Greco-Roman and Christian belief systems and cultures. Rhetoric was also, of course, informed by the gendered dynamics of medieval English society that isolated nearly everyone from intellectual and rhetorical activities. Medieval culture was wholly and decidedly masculine, yet most men, just like all women, were condemned to class-bound silence. The written word was controlled by clergy, the men of the cloth and the Church, who controlled the flow of knowledge for all men and women. (Cheryl Glenn, Rhetoric Retold: Regendering the Tradition from Antiquity Through the Renaissance. Southern Illinois University Press, 1997)

Analyzing the character of Bird Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Analyzing the character of Bird - Essay Example At his present age of twenty eight years he still uses his nick name given to him in his adolescence. Carelessness and attitude to run away from challenging situations can clearly be witnessed by observing Bird’s behavior on the birth of his first child. Leaving his wife alone in the hospital to sweat he escapes into his years old desire of visiting Africa and imagines himself out of the hospital and into the market. Instead of returning back to the hospital to get to know of the status of the child’s birth he merely makes a phone call from a public phone to inquire about the status at the hospital. This behavior seems quite ironic. This is the time of a woman’s life when she needs her husband the most. This is when she needs all the encouragement and support to get motivated to assist the birth of the child. Just by knowing the fact that her husband is around, the man whose baby she is about to give birth to, is enough moral support for her. But Bird just didnâ €™t care. He opted for the easiest option available to him and ran out of the entire situation leaving his wife at the disposal of the doctors and his parents in law. Not very enthusiastic about fatherhood, Bird has been demonstrated as a person who runs away from all kinds of responsibilities. H feels that once he becomes a father he would be devoid of all his freedom, would be locked up in a cage with its door closed. The years that would come after his child’s birth would refrain him from going to Africa – The land of his dreams! Severely struggling between duty and desire Bird is really disappointed with life when the much awaited birth of his child does take place. Unfortunately the new born is a defective child. This further pulls the morale of the already dejected father into dungeons. At this point in his life as well the only person he thinks about is himself. This can easily be conveyed via author Kenzaburo’s (1968) following words in which he depi cts Bird’s instant reaction upon the news of his child’s abnormal birth, â€Å"Bird scuttled back to the bedroom, like a crab making for a ledge. He shut his eyes tight and tried to submerge himself in the warmth of his bed, as if by denying reality he could instantly banish it. But nothing changed. Bird shook in head in resignation.†(15) Reacting selflessly at the hospital and without meeting his wife he leaves her behind in the maternity home he ventures on into his own world running away from the hard hitting facts of life. Some earlier instances of his life, narrated by himself, show that he has considered himself to be in distress ever since he has tied himself in the bond of marriage. He narrates this feeling of his with the similitude of a person being held in a cage with the door of the cage being left open. The fist escape he opts for right after his marriage is that he gets himself drunk continuously for four months. The only thing he did was that he g ot drunk and listened to music. This was all at the expense of a lifetime relationship that he had just stepped into, a responsibility that he faced in the face of a wife who was dependent on him and on top of it all at the expense of his education. Yes, Bird was studying when he ventured on this carelessness spree. Setting aside all future prospects of establishing himself in the society Bird risked his

Acquisition Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Acquisition Analysis - Essay Example Such factors as internal and external market environment as well as Adobe priorities were examined, and it was found that acquisition is profitable for both companies. The three templates were designed to analyze broad, specific and other issues necessary to evaluate the risk and profitability of the project. It was supposed that the company IAP will invest about $ 1000000 from internal cash funds. Financial analysis proves that fact that the rate of return will be high if IAP invests $ 1,000000. Such calculations as WACC, risk assessment, CAPM, foreign currency translation effect, cash flow analysis have been madeThe initial assessment of markets conditions involves screening foreign markets to discover the potential of different countries. This process includes consideration of rates of growth of economies, new developments such as opening up of markets in developing and emergent economies, technical changes that are creating new opportunities to sell and identification of long-ter m economic and demographic factors that are altering demand patterns.With the globalization of the world economy, companies like IAP Company Limited are growing by merger and acquisition in a bid to expand operations and remain competitive. The complexity of such transactions often makes it difficult to assess all risk exposures and liabilities, and requires the skills of a specialist advisor. Four main types of assessment for companies considering acquisition beyond their national borders should be undertaken: political and legal conditions, economic conditions, cultural conditions, competitive conditions. USA-based company Adobe operates in the stable political situation, which has high rates of economic growth. Acquisition policy is undoubtedly the most radical growth strategy open to management in that it represents a deliberate attempt to change the nature of the business. Acquisition policy can be classified into backward, forward and horizontal integration. Acquisition policy occurs when the new business is related in some way to the old one. (Zolkiewski, 1994). Template 1: IAP Company Limited will be reluctant to enter countries that have high political risks unless the potential returns are high or when countries with high political risk are providers of raw material that are in short supply. When the overall market is growing or can be induced to grow, it may be relatively easy for companies with a small market share, or even new entrants, to gain share. This is because the absolute level of sales of the established companies may still be growing; and indeed, in some instances, those companies may be unable or unwilling to meet the new demand. Import penetration into some industries can be traced back to the early 1990s, when companies were unable to supply the peak demand occurring during booms and their customers had to seek alternative sources overseas (Benito, Gripsrund, 1992). Once established with overseas suppliers, many UK users were reluctant to revert to UK sourcing. When the boom was over, the importers held on to their market share. The size of the investment required by a business wishing to enter industry will be an important determinant of the extent new entrants. Acquisition with Adobe allows IAP Company Limited to subject to a complex regulate framework whereas others are less so. Still, even if it is possible to predict the needs of customer there are some threats and new opportunities, which should be taken into consideration. American administrative and legal environment is very favourable for acquisition with Adobe. There are no specific regulations governing the goals and structures of the industry, there is

Kim Campbell :: Biography

In a democracy, government isn't something that a group of people do TO everybody else, it's not even something they do FOR every body else, it should be something they do WITH everybody else. "Kim Campbell, March 25th, 1993 Avril Phaendra Douglas Campbell was born in Port Albeni, B.C. SHortly after her birth her parents moved to Vancouver where her father was studying law. Her family life didn't turn out to be succesful, so her parents divorced when she was 12. By the age of 13 she changed her name to Kim. She was always on top in her Prince Of Wales Secondary school and she marked the begining of her political career by being the first female student president. In 1964, Kim went to the University Of British Columbia where she topped in Political Science. There again she was elected to be the first female freshman president. After graduation, she took some graduate courses at The Institute of International Relations, before she got a scholarship to London School Of Economics. She returned to Vancouver in 1973 and began lecturing at Simon Fraser University and Vancouver Community College. In 1980 she returned to University of British Columbia to study law, at the same time she got involved in local politics. Later in 1983 she got elected into Vancouver School Board as a chairsperson. Her status caught the attension of the governing at that time Social Credit party and they asked her to run as a candidate in 1984 provincial elections. Even though she lost she was offered a job as a policy advisor to B.C. Premier Bill Bennett. When Bennett resigned in 1989, Kim ran for a provincial leader Bill Vander Zalm. In the electionthat year she won a seat in legislature. Here she made herself recognized for opposing premier's views on abortion. By 1988 Campbell was praised by the Conservative party. Conservative''''';;'"??/???s cabinet minister Pat Carney was about to retire, therefore he needed replacement. Kim campbell ran and won the 1988 election. She was offered a positiion as a Minister of State for Indian and Northern Affairs. In 1989 she became the first female Minister of Justice. She prooved herself again as a politician. She introduced a bill overlooking gun laws. The 1989 Montreal massive killing forced her to propose more strict gun laws. Kim Campbell was also praised when Bill C(49) was drafted after the Supreme Court announced the 1983 "'rape sheild' law as unconstitutional.

Mass Crime Lab Case

Former Massachusetts State Crime Lab chemist, Annie Dookhan, has been indicted on twenty-seven counts of tampering with evidence, perjury, and obstruction of justice after a legal fallout that has jeopardized thousands of drug cases (Smith). Dookhan admitted to â€Å"dry-labbing† (distinguishing a sample is a narcotic based on appearance instead of actually testing), altering test results, and â€Å"deliberately turned a negative sample into a positive for narcotics a few times†. Another way in which she tampered with the testing samples was by exaggerating the weight of seized drugs in order to cause the accused party to receive harsher penalties. As a result of the chemist’s actions, many innocent people have served jail time, while deserving criminals were let off the hook. Even though her coworkers and supervisors were suspicious on several occasions throughout the course of several years, she was not caught until 2011 when she admitted to forging a colleague’s signature on paperwork. It was not until this action, that she was finally suspended from her duties (The Living Case). The next thought that occurs to someone reading this story is â€Å"Why†. What would possess someone to risk his or her job and credentials? It is hard to understand what exactly would motivate Annie Dookhan to commit this type of crime considering that her life was not directly impacted by the fates of the defendants her samples belonged to. Frederick Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory, also known as the two-factor theory, could be applied in this case. Lab executives leadership style Crime labs would be better served if they were operated privately and contracted by states rather than run by a police department. There is cause for concern when a state prosecutor has intrinsic ties to the people testing the evidence he or she needs to convict a felon. It is an absolute conflict of interest to have a crime lab under the control of the police. Northeastern University law professor Daniel Medwed said, â€Å"There are often implicit pressures [on crime lab technicians] to help out prosecutors – to testify in cases in a way that supports their perceived colleagues in law enforcement† (The Living Case). As a result of the outcome of the Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts case, chemists are now required to be present at the trial of the substance they tested in order to be cross-examined on their testimony (Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts). Bearing in mind that their testimony carries a lot of weight in a trial, chemists should remain separate so that issues of prejudice or bias arise. Aside from that issue, being run be the state police produces problems in relation to the management of the crime lab reporting any errors in testing that may occur. The leaders may feel that exposing problems would only increase a backlog of paperwork and further testing as a result of an internal investigation. In this case, it does not seem that the leadership was affected by police involvement as the lab was run by the Department of Public Health during the period of the incidents. Sources: * I was unsure how to cite the case given to us as most of my information is derived from there, and I did not see where Kirkman provided source information. * http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/08pdf/07-591.pdf * http://www.npr.org/2013/03/14/174269211/mass-crime-lab-scandal-reverberates-across-state

Biography of Dean Kamen, American Engineer and Inventor

Dean Kamen (born April 5, 1951) is an American engineer, inventor, and entrepreneur who is best known for his invention of the Segway PT, a self-balancing personal transporter scooter. He is also noted as a founder of the non-profit FIRST organization for advancing science and technology-dedicated education. Holding over 450 patents, Kamen has been called the â€Å"next Thomas Edison,† particularly for his life-changing inventions improving the mobility of persons with disabilities and treating illnesses ranging from diabetes to cancer. Fast Facts: Dean Kamen Known For: Inventor of the Segway self-balancing scooterBorn: April 5, 1951, in Rockville Center, Long Island, New YorkParents: Jack Kamen and Evelyn KamenEducation: Worcester Polytechnic Institute (no degree)Patents: US8830048B2: Control of a personal transporter based on user position (Segway)Awards and Honors: National Medal of Technology, Lemelson-MIT Prize, National Inventors Hall of Fame, ASME MedalNotable Quote: â€Å"Life is so short. Why waste a single day of it doing something that doesnt matter, that doesn’t try to do something big?† Early Life and Education Dean Kamen was born on April 5, 1951 in Rockville Center, Long Island, New York. His father worked as a graphic artist for Weird Science, Mad, and other comic books, and his mother was a teacher. By his own account, he was a lackluster student, preferring to educate himself on advanced science and engineering topics outside of school. According to Kamen, he had created his first invention by age six: a pulley system that enabled him to make his bed without running from side-to-side. Kamen’s career as a professional inventor took off in his teenage years. While still in high school, he was asked to automate the annual New Years Eve ball drop at Times Square. He designed sound and laser-light displays local rock bands and the Museum of the City of New York. By the time he finished high school, Kamen’s creations were earning him around $60,000 a yea— more than the combined incomes of his parents. After completing high school, Kamen headed to Worcester Polytechnic Institute to study engineering. Early Inventions As a sophomore at WPI, Kamen invented a pocket-sized, wearable medical device that delivered precisely measured doses of medications, such as insulin, over extended periods of time. In 1976, Kamen dropped out of college to found his first company, AutoSyringe, to produce and market his insulin pump. In 1981, Kamen sold AutoSyringe to health-care giant Baxter International. The same year, he founded DEKA (DE-an KA-men) Research and Development Corp., a firm dedicated to creating robotic mobility solutions for persons with disabilities. By age 30, Dean Kamen had become a multimillionaire. After founding DEKA, Kamen invented a groundbreaking portable and affordable kidney dialysis machine that allows diabetics to dialyze at home while they sleep. In 1993, the device earned him the Medical Product of the Year award from Design News and set the stage for his best-known inventions to date: the iBOT, the Segway, the Slingshot, and the â€Å"Luke† Arm. The iBot Revealed in 1999, Kamen’s iBOT self-balancing mobility device is a self-balancing, multi-terrain, battery-powered wheelchair. Built from sensors, microprocessors, and gyroscopes that would later be incorporated into his Segway, the iBOT allows its users to climb stairs without assistance and travel safely over uneven surfaces, including sand, gravel, and water up to 3 deep. With its ability to stand upright on two wheels, the iBOT empowers persons with handicaps to move about at eye-level. Inventor Dean Kamen demonstrates his iBot wheelchair for President Bill Clinton. US Government/The White House Because of the iBOT’s flexibility and agility, Kamen nicknamed the project â€Å"Fred,† after famed dancer Fred Astaire. He would later nickname his Segway project â€Å"Ginger,† after Astaire’s equally famous dance partner, Ginger Rogers. Commercial production of the iBOT was temporarily halted in 2009 due to high production costs. By then, only a few hundred units per year were being sold at a retail price of about $25,000. However, in 2014, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration lowered its costly federal regulatory controls over personal mobility medical devices, allowing Kamen and DEKA to revive the project. In 2016, DEKA entered into a partnership with Toyota to produce a new, less costly version of the iBOT. The Segway On December 3, 2001, after months of media-hype and public speculation, Kamen appeared live on the ABC News morning television program Good Morning America to unveil his best-known invention—a battery-powered, two-wheeled, self-balancing scooter he called the Segway. Dean Kamen introduces the Segway Human Transporter on December 3, 2001. Mark Peterson / Getty Images Based on technology developed for the iBOT, the Segway used independently computer-controlled motors and gyroscopes in each wheel to remain upright and change its direction and speed according to the rider’s body movements. The device’s name comes from the word â€Å"segue† which literally means â€Å"follows without pause.† As the rider leans forward, backward, and to the left or right using a handlebar attached to its base, the Segway follows accordingly. Capable speeds up to 12.5 miles per hour (20.1 kph), the Segway can cover up to 24 mi (39 km) on a fully charged lithium-ion battery. When the Segway hit the market in early 2002, Kamen predicted future sales of 10,000 units a week—half a million a year. However, by late 2008, only 30,000 Segway scooters had been sold. While it worked as advertised, the Segway suffered from its $4,900 price tag and a bad public image. It had been featured as a comedic prop in the movie â€Å"Paul Blart: Mall Cop† gaining it a â€Å"nerd toy† image. In 2003, President George W. Bush was filmed falling off one and in 2010, Segway corporation owner James W. Heselden died after accidentally steering his scooter off a 30-foot cliff, landing in a river. After a patent infringement dispute in 2015, Kamen’s Segway Corporation was purchased by its Chinese rival Ninebot. The two companies announced at the time that they were uniting under a â€Å"strategic alliance† to develop less expensive electric scooters using Segway’s self-balancing technology. Ninebot soon began selling several models of Segway-branded scooters priced at $1,000 or less. While it never dominated the general consumer market as Kamen had predicted, the Segway has found success in commercial fleet applications. Police officers, mall security guards, warehouses workers, tour guides, and airport maintenance staff are now commonly seen riding Segway scooters. The Slingshot   Named for the humble weapon used by the Biblical David to defeat the giant Goliath, the Slingshot is the result of Kamen’s 15-year quest to bring safe drinking water to the world. â€Å"Fifty percent of all chronic human disease would go away—you would empty 50 percent of the hospital beds in the world—if you just gave people clean water,† Kamen has said. Using a Stirling engine specially modified by Kamen to drive a process called vapor compression distillation, a single compact refrigerator-sized Slingshot can purify more than 66,000 gallons (250,000 liters) of water per year—enough to meet the daily needs of about 300 people. According to Kamen, the Slingshot can run on any combustible fuel, including cow dung, and can remove all organic and inorganic pathogens from â€Å"anything that looks wet.† In a 2004 demonstration, Kamen ran his own urine through a Slingshot, immediately drinking the water that came out. During a test in the summer of 2006, two Slingshot devices successfully produced clean water in a Honduran village for over a month. In 2010, Kamen’s DEKA corporation announced it had partnered with Coca-Cola to manufacture and test the Slingshot in remote communities in Latin America. While the first Slingshot units cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, Kamen has projected that savings from increased production will eventually result in a price in the $1,000 to $2,000 range. DEKA Arm System (Luke Arm) In 2006, Kamen and DEKA developed the DEKA Arm System, codenamed the â€Å"Luke Arm,† an advanced prosthetic arm named after Star Wars’ Luke Skywalker’s artificial hand. Kamen took on the project after the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) announced its â€Å"Revolutionizing Prosthetics† program intended to drastically improve the quality of life for wounded veterans returning home from the Iraq War. The â€Å"Luke† prosthetic arm invented by Dean Kamen. Dean Kamen / Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain Offering its users much finer motor control than traditional prosthetic limbs, Kamen’s Luke Arm was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in May 2014. At the time, the FDA stated that the Luke Arm was the first prosthetic arm approved by the agency that â€Å"translates signals from a person’s muscles to perform complex tasks.† Unlike traditional prosthetics, the Luke Arm allows its users to carry out multiple powered movements, while its fingers can apply six different user-selectable grip pressures. Today, three configurations of Kamen’s Luke Arm are manufactured and marketed by Mobius Bionics in Manchester, New Hampshire. FIRST Advances STEM Education In 1989, Kamen founded FIRST—For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology—a non-profit organization for students ages 6 to 18 to promote interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. According to Kamen, the mission of FIRST is, â€Å"To transform our culture by creating a world where science and technology are celebrated and where young people dream of becoming science and technology leaders.† FIRST offers robotics-focused programs for K-12 students worldwide in three age groups, including the FIRST Lego League Jr. for younger elementary school students, the FIRST Tech Challenge for middle and high school students, and the FIRST Robotics Competition for high school students. In 2017, FIRST hosted 163 teams from 157 nations in its inaugural Olympics-style robotics competition—the FIRST Global Challenge— at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. Similar Global Challenge competitions have since been held in Mexico City in 2018 and Dubai in 2019. â€Å"FIRST is more than robots. The robots are a vehicle for students to learn life skills. Kids often come in not knowing what to expect – of the program nor of themselves. They leave, even after the first season, with a vision, with confidence, and with a sense that they can create their own future.† – Dean Kamen Kamen has called FIRST the invention he is most proud of, predicting that the millions of students who take part in its competitions will go on to contribute to world-changing technological advances in years to come. Awards and Honors Kamen’s inventions and dedication to science and technology education have garnered him an array of honors. In 1998, he received the Heinz Award for â€Å"a set of inventions that have advanced medical care worldwide.† The National Medal of Technology Kamen was awarded in 2000 praised him for â€Å"innovative and imaginative leadership in awakening America to the excitement of science and technology.† In 2002, he was awarded the Lemelson-MIT Prize for his invention of the Segway, and in 2005, he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for his invention of the AutoSyringe. In 2007, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers awarded Kamen its highest honor, the ASME Medal. In 2011 Kamen was awarded the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Mechanical Engineering by the Franklin Institute, and in 2013, he received the James C. Morgan Global Humanitarian Award. Though he never formally completed college, Kamen has been awarded honorary degrees, beginning in 1992 with an honorary doctor of engineering degree from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), the college where he was inspired to develop the AutoSyringe. In 2013, WPI further honored Kamen by awarding him its Robert H. Goddard Award for Outstanding Professional Achievement. Among other institutions, Kamen has received honorary doctorates from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2008, Yale University in 2015, and Quebec’s Università © de Sherbrooke in 2017. Sources â€Å"Dean Kamen.† Famous Entrepreneurs, https://www.famous-entrepreneurs.com/dean-kamen.â€Å"Dean Kamen: IBOT Mobility System and the Segway.† Lemelson–MIT, http://lemelson.mit.edu/resources/dean-kamen.â€Å"Breakout Artist: Dean Kamen.† WIRED, https://www.wired.com/2000/09/kamen/.â€Å"Kid Invention: Automatic Bed Maker.† Big Think, July 7, 2009, https://bigthink.com/videos/kid-invention-automatic-bed-maker.Sorvino, Chloe. â€Å"One Of Americas Most Successful Inventors Dean Kamen Talks Segway, Clean Water And Robotics.† Forbes, June 9, 2016, https://www.forbes.com/sites/chloesorvino/2016/06/09/dean-kamen-inventor-success-segway-water-purification-toyota/#18cbf317555e.Kemper, Steve. â€Å".†Code Name Ginger: The Story Behind Segway and Dean Kamens Quest to Invent a New World Harvard Business School, 2003.â€Å"Welcome to Dean Kamens cool world.† CBS News, January 11, 2015, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/welcome-to-dean-kamens-c ool-world/.â€Å"iBOT Poised for Comeback.† Toyota Newsroom, May 21, 2016, https://pressroom.toyota.com/toyota-deka-research-partnership-may21/.McFarland, Matt. â€Å"Segway was supposed to change the world. Two decades later, it just might.† CNN, October 30, 2018, https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/30/tech/segway-history/index.html.Linshi, Jack.â€Å"Why This Chinese Startup Just Bought a Company Americans Love to Ridicule.† Time, April 15, 2015, https://time.com/3822962/segway-ninebot-china/.Guizzo, Erico. â€Å"Dean Kamens ‘Luke Arm’ Prosthesis Receives FDA Approval.† IEEE Spectrum,  May 13, 2014, https://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/biomedical/bionics/dean-kamen-luke-arm-prosthesis-receives-fda-approval.Patton, Phil. â€Å"Slingshot: Inventor Dean Kamens Revolutionary Clean Water Machine.† Coca-Cola, September 21, 2013. https://www.coca-colacompany.com/au/news/slingshot-inventor-dean-kamens-revolutionary-clean-water-machine.html.